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To: Darksheare
"From underneath, the heat source that would be 'better seen' by a seeker head would be the forward illume lights."

No. Not even close. And while the actual lightbulbs may be hot, they are covered by a plastic lens in the wingroot to protect them and maintain the aerodynamics of the wing. That same plastic lens is cooled by a constant blast of freezing air flowing over it at over 300kias. Contrast that with the engine exhaust of 4 large turbofan engines expelling a huge plume of gas at temperatures of over 1000F. An IR missile locks on to the greatest heat source. A landing light next to 4 turbofans at full thrust would look like a candle next to the Sun.

277 posted on 07/26/2004 10:21:29 AM PDT by Rokke
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To: Rokke

"A landing light next to 4 turbofans at full thrust would look like a candle next to the Sun."

Only if the turbofans aren't masked by their own cowling.


278 posted on 07/26/2004 10:48:09 AM PDT by Darksheare (Road Killed Beeber Association, paving the world, one troll at a time...)
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